- Dec 22, 2017
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[Before reading my beautiful writing, here's a list of Urgent volunteer opportunities--this list updates frequently, especially around spring & summer, so keep checking back! Many come with housing, transit, and more...it's worth a shot to go for one of these: Urgent Opportunities | Catholic Volunteer Network ]
Perhaps some of you out there play D&D, Starfinder, Pathfinder, or another role-playing game. The Legend of Zelda, Pokemon, or nearly any book & movie, all have a storyline, some kind of "quest" that needs completed. A common complaint with movies in the lack of such quest; a boring movie can have characters moving around, doing what they wish to do, but it's not actually leading anywhere. There's no plot being resolved, no mission being fulfilled, no point to what they're doing. It's life without a higher purpose, and such a life is hardly a life at all.
One of our basic human instincts is to be part of something greater. Yes, it's good to cook food for myself...but it's wonderful to have a whole family to cook for! I can do some sports on my own...but doing them for the glory of my nation is what inspires so many Olympians to greatness. We love following celebrities, politicians, superheroes, fictional & non-fictional characters of all kinds....but when will we be someone worth following?
The modern age offers pleasure & comfort to a near-divinized extreme. What it doesn't offer is greatness. No suicides should exist if comfort was the deep craving of humanity...yet I, and far too many others, know people who have succumbed to this worst form of death. Being born in '98, it hardly phases me to hear of another suicide...they happen all the time. Even the "survivors", as people in my high school referred to those of us who never succumbed, counseling is one of the fastest-growing fields, mental health bills are constantly before the US Congress, and depression continues to deepen as we trade off our desire for greatness for a desire for the couch.
Further reading on this point: Made for Pillows? Men, Boredom, and inappropriate contentography - The Catholic Gentleman
What I offer here is something I sincerely hope will be of immense help to people "out there". So often, meandering across the Internet can be entertaining, for awhile, but leaves off with a feeling of emptiness, and continuing to feel just as lousy as I did before turning on my phone. Nothing kills us quite like repetition...think of the movie Groundhog Day, where Bill Murray didn't get anywhere until he started to work at a mission. It took some time, but until he started to become serious about finding out a way to break the repetition of his life, it was either hedonism or depression...uncomfortably close to home for our age of comfort with the luxury of nothing to do.
So in earnest hope to pull someone to a higher state of living, I will offer a few starting points to find a mission in life. Please add your own in the replies; I have my perspective, you have yours, and when we put them together, someone else will have twice the options to consider, eh?
Keeping in mind the practical necessities of moving somewhere new, I've compiled several service opportunities across the nation that provide housing for their volunteers. Also on this list is a directory of national & international programs, where you can narrow down the results by location, religion, living arrangements, and other details.
Ministry Opportunities (with housing!)
There are also abundant opportunities to do from home, especially with Zoom calls being so ubiquitous in our extra-modern age. Here's one that offers housing in Detroit, or gives you the chance to tutor Haitians in English, to help them earn degrees from American universities. They request a 6-month commitment for Zoom tutoring, just a couple hours a week, or a year of full-time volunteer work for Detroit; all their contact info is here:
Program Search Results | Catholic Volunteer Network
Activism is one of the marks of this generation; we love "raising awareness", but have difficulty going any farther than that. Regardless of the flaws, being educated on some kind of issue tends to give life to people--keep in mind how many folks are obsessed over baseball, reality TV, or the chances of Donald Trump running in 2024. While I can appreciate following the Pittsburgh Penguins, it falls short of a "mission", so here's some info on a far more important subject; perhaps this will spur you into saving those who need it.
Data on Human Trafficking
There is a 3-part documentary out there, called Walking the Bible (it's based on a book I've never read, but the videos are just incredible!). I encourage you to check your library for it. A Jewish guy does the same travels that the heroes of the Torah traveled, following the paths of Abraham, Joseph going to Egypt, Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt, and so on. The ancient Jews really understood the importance of story & direction in people's lives, and these videos really bring it right into your living room, beautifully showing the way stories & journeys work into our lives (the couch & TV are not inherently evil, they just become serious problems when they become a way of life).
In such a broad online platform, it is always hard how to know what will & what won't resonate with a crowd of strangers I'll never meet. But I hope this will at least get people seeking out something greater, maybe guide them to something I shared, or something they find on their own. The irony of excessive comfort is that it makes us deeply uncomfortable inside; I always loved video games, until I got tired of the illusion of accomplishment. The real deal is harder, sometimes, but so much worth it. That is the gift I hope to leave to you...the gift of a life worth living.
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." --John 10:10
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